Daiki Mamura
'Daiki Mamura ' (馬村 大輝, Mamura Daiki) is Suzume Yosano's classmate, as well as the first male friend she made when she came to Tokyo. He is also Suzume's second love. Appearance Mamura has slightly unkempt blond hair and eyes that appear to be a dark reddish color. Mamura dresses casually, not tucking in his uniform's shirt or buttoning it up to the collar. When outside school, he wears a variety of outfits suited to the weather. He is also often seen listening to music in the morning through earphones or headphones, most noticeably wearing the headphones that, later within the series, Suzume gives him. Personality Mamura is normally very quiet and indifferent towards his surroundings. He is cold to other people, especially to girls, though this becomes less prominent later on. He didn't like girls most likely due to his mother, who had an affair with a co-worker and ended up leaving the family. After that, Mamura thought of all women the same, and was disgusted by them. He is also normally perceived as cool and aloof but proves to have a gentle and caring side to him that he rarely shows to others. He often seems to show it to Suzume. Mamura is also very protective of Suzume, as shown when he tries to save her when she falls into a hole, giving up his jacket for her to use, and grabbing her hand to make sure they don't get separated in a large crowd. Although he cares deeply for Suzume, and says he has thought about "those things," he claims he has no ulterior motive in dating her. Later on in the story, Mamura is also shown to have a more mature side; he realizes that Suzume's feelings aren't for him, that he didn't want to be or even could be a replacement for Shishio, and tells Suzume to go see him. Despite believing that if he let her go at that moment he would never get her back, he still sends her off, and even after Suzume has left, Mamura has trouble sleeping and wakes up, going outside by the seashore. He begins to think about Suzume, wondering if she got to Tokyo okay and if she was eating well, and whether she properly expressed her feelings to Shishio or not, expressing a "If she is happy, I'm happy" type of personality. Plot Main Plot Initially, it is shown that when girls touch Mamura, he blushes profusely. This is because he lives only with his father and younger brother, as his parents divorced, and is thus unsure of how to act around girls. When Suzume discovers this, she "blackmails" him to become her first friend in Tokyo by threatening to tell other people his secret. Despite his frustration and annoyance, he agrees and makes his first female friend. Eventually, it becomes slightly easier for him to talk to females thanks to her influence, although later his feelings towards her in particular become conflicted as he begins to develop a more romantic interest. On one occasion, Mamura kisses Suzume after a group outing with their friends, though she was expecting for him to scold her for revealing his secret. However, Suzume doesn't know how to respond, and shows no affection back. It is also hinted that Mamura is jealous of Suzume and Shishio's relationship throughout the manga, as on many occasions, he confronts both Shishio and Suzume with the risks of what they are doing. An example of this is the reaction he had when Shishio wore Suzume's present to him, a tie, in class. Later, though Mamura has always attracted female attention from girls in the school, it's not until after the start of the new school year that he is fully impacted by it. He quickly becomes popular amongst the new first year girls and becomes both embarrassed and annoyed by them. To help him out, Yuyuka, Tsurutani, and Kameyoshi come up with a plan for Suzume to pose as his fake 'girlfriend,' but he turns the idea down and walks away, ignoring the girls. However, just a bit later, he spots Suzume talking to Shishio once more. After spotting them he goes over and calls out to Suzume. He soon wraps his arm around her and says that they are dating, so Shishio isn't needed. Though not entirely true, Shishio still believes him and congratulates the two. Suzume, however, gets upset at Mamura, wondering why he suddenly went with the plan at such a bad time. Mamura's feelings towards Suzume seem to grow throughout their act as a couple, and eventually he asks her on a date to the aquarium. Suzume, when finding out the location, says she can't bring herself to go, but Mamura tells her that she shouldn't live her life always avoiding things that remind her of Shishio. Suzume finally agrees and the two enter the aquarium, but neither of them talk to each other. At one point, when Suzume was in front of the penguin exhibit, Mamura asks her if she's going to go with him to see the sharks. She says she doesn't want to, so Mamura leaves. Suzume is shocked at first, and begins to feel depressed, but Mamura soon comes back and drops a stuffed penguin on her head. After giving it to her, she asks him why, and he replies that he thought it might cheer her up. Suzume begins to hit him repeatedly, and asks him why he was being so nice to her. Not thinking, he responds, "Because I love you!" Immediately surprised, Suzume doesn't answer. She can't bear to look at him, but he requests that she does. When their eyes meet again, he repeats himself. However, just then, an aquarium employee interrupts them, saying that the aquarium was closing and they needed to leave. Mamura then tells Suzume that she doesn't need to answer immediately, and so the two go home. After the date, Suzume realizes that she wants to enter a relationship with Mamura and runs all the way to his house before school to give him an answer to his confession. She admits to him she still has feelings for Shishio and that she is still in love with him. She also tells him that she isn't sure if she is in love with Mamura, but also says that she knows she shouldn't compare the two because they are two different people. She tells him she wants to move forward facing his way and asks him to go out with her. He accepts, and they bid farewell. Later, during the sports festival, Mamura and Shishio complete in a race against each other. Shishio originally wasn't in the race, but due to the P.E. teacher getting injured, he was substituted, though only after seeing Mamura's name in the list of participants did he agree. At first, Shishio takes the lead of the race with Mamura behind, but in the end, it's Mamura that wins, though only by inches. Defeated, Shishio admits that Mamura would be a worthy rival to lose Suzume's heart to, but tells him he will continue to fight for her affection. Also during the sports festival, Suzume competes in the bread-eating race. However, when landing her jump, she sprains her ankle. After winning the race, Suzume is brought by Shishio to the infirmary, where he treats her ankle. Inside, he tries to confess his true feelings to Suzume, but she tells him that she doesn't want to hear them. Meanwhile, Mamura had been going to the infirmary to see Suzume after being informed of her injury. He accidently sees Suzume and Shishio inside and overhears their conversation but sits outside in the hallway, waiting for Shishio to leave. Suzume avoids telling Mamura about her conversation with Shishio because she doesn't want to hurt him. Suzume invites Mamura to Okinawa with the gang but he first refuses saying that one of her friends suggested that Suzume ask him (but mostly troubled by her unwillingness to tell him about Shishio's confession). Later, she asks again saying that she truly wants him to come so he agrees. There, Mamura asks her on a date and they go to the aquarium where Mamura nearly kisses Suzume but are interrupted. Suzume receives a call from her uncle saying that Shishio was injured. Mamura tells her to go to him seeing that she's been deeply troubled and may not be able to move forward until she properly faces Shishio. She leaves and Mamura thinks he should have said more to her if their relationship was ending so soon. Suzume goes to Tokyo and she talks with Shishio who declares his honest love for her once more. She rejects him saying she loved him but now wants to cherish someone else. Mamura, still in Okinawa cannot sleep and takes a midnight stroll on the beach. There, Suzume finds him, having returned from Tokyo back to him. She confesses her love to Mamura and they kiss. Six Years Later Six years later, Mamura and Suzume are seen talking in an apartment after she returns from Yukichi's wedding. After they talk, Mamura is about to propose to Suzume. However, his plan to propose has been interrupted by Yuyuka calling Suzume. Then Mamura decides not to propose, thinking that he still has a lot of time left. In his office, Mamura's boss called him and talk to him about something. Whilst, he's hanging out with Sarumaru and Inukai, Inukai asks about Mamura's job and he tells them that he’s being transferred to Fukuoka for a big project. Sarumaru and Inukai are sad but suggest that this is a good time for Mamura and Suzume to get married. However, Mamura stating that it’s selfish of him to tell her to follow him because it seemed wrong for her to drop everything and go with him just because she loves him. Sarumaru tells Mamura that he’s pretty annoying because he overthinks too much. Mamura then flashback to the past, he had always been like that when it came to Suzume. Mamura remembers when he collapsed because of the fever with Suzume by his side. He refused to cancel a movie date with Suzume, in which prompts Suzume telling him that he’s unexpectedly the annoying type. But he tells her the reason why he didn’t cancel the date: it was the first date together as an actual couple and he wouldn't cancel a day like that. This flusters Suzume and she kisses him and tells him to get better soon so that they can re-do this date. After the kiss, Suzume went back home, though she ends up getting sick along with Mamura. Back to the present, Mamura doesn't know how to break the news to Suzume. He doesn't want to break up with her, believing his happiness might not be her happiness. He starts to feel like a coward and begins to understand a little bit how Shishio felt back then. Suzume meets up with her friends and Kameyoshi mentions that Sarumaru told her about Mamura's transfer. Suzume is quite surprised since it's the first time she heard it. She then goes to Mamura's place and waits for him. Mamura comes to his place and is surprised to see Suzume there. She confronts him about Fukuoka and the reason why he didn’t tell her. She begins to question him if she mattered to him or if he was going to break up with her. Mamura answers no because he was unsure if this would make her happy. Suzume puts her hands on Mamura's cheeks and tells him that what makes her happy are cooking delicious fish and being with Mamura; She can find and learn how to cook delicious fish anywhere in the world but there is only one Mamura. Mamura understands and asks Suzume to marry him. He said asks to stand beside him, promising her that she won't regret it. Suzume is overwhelmed and she accepts with a dorky answer. However, she cannot just resign from her job, she asks him to wait one year or maybe six months. Mamura says he that will wait for her. He then looks forward to the day when she will come running to him, with her flushed cheeks and sweat gleaming on her forehead. Trivia *His favorite foods are anything with cheese on them. *His blood type is A. *He likes to collect the little toys that come with food. *He listens to music often. *His favorite color is blue. *His preferred season is winter. *He likes slender-fitting clothing. *He doesn't have a favorite sport. *He doesn't have a favorite hairstyle. *The genre of movie he's seen the most is suspense. *He owns headphones which were a birthday present given to him by Suzume. *According to Suzume, he has an elegant palate. *He smells like soap. *He often calls Suzume stupid when she embarrasses him. *He has only ever called Suzume by her name once, at which point he used her full name. *When he gets embarrassed or nervous, he puts his hand on the back of his neck. It appears to be a habit of his. *He has an uneasy relationship with Shishio, and sometimes, when angry, calls him a bastard behind his back. *He was named after a male Shiba Inu living in the mangaka's apartment building. *According to the mangaka, Mamura is modeled after Kentaro Sakaguchi, who is both an actor and a model for the Japanese fashion magazine Men's Non-no, the male counterpart to Non-on. Additionally, the magazine is published by Shueisha, which also publishes [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_%28magazine%29 Margaret], the magazine that publishes Hirunaka no Ryuusei. *In a popularity poll versus Shishio held by Margaret, he won 3849 to 1893 with a ratio of slightly over 2:1. *He, like his two brothers, has the character "dai" (大) in his first name. *The animal in Mamura's name, horse (馬), is the "ma" in "Mamura." Though 馬 is normally read as "uma" when standalone, due to kanji having multiple readings, it is the "ma" in this case. Gallery Mamura.jpg|Mamura expressing his disinterest in Suzume's transfer in day.1 Mamura2.jpg|Mamura reacting strongly towards Suzume touching him in day.2 Mamura3.jpg|Mamura apologizing to Suzume in day.3 Mamura10.png Mamura2.png|Mamura as drawn on the mangaka's Twitter|link=https://twitter.com/whoknowsmika3 Mamura5.png|Mamura as drawn on the mangaka's Twitter|link=https://twitter.com/whoknowsmika3 Daiku Mamura in butler suit.png|Mamura in his butler outfit. Mamura talks to Suzume.png Suzume and Mamura.png Mamura flicks Suzume.png|Mamura flicking Suzume's forehead. Mamura blushes a little bit.png Mamura can't eat.png|Mamura unable to eat Suzume and Mamura standing next to each other.png Mamura6.png Mamura tugging Suzume's bag.png|Mamura tugging on Suzume's bag, preventing her from leaving. Mamura blushing.png|Mamura blushing Mamura dressing up.png|Mamura getting dressed Mamura at Suzume's house.png|Mamura at Suzume's house Mamura and Suzume.png|Mamura and Suzume Mamura7.jpg|Mamura's eyes Mamura Suzume kiss.jpg|Mamura kisses Suzume Mamura8.jpg|Mamura saying "I love you too" to Suzume Quotes References Navigation Category:Characters Category:Male